Chad Riley helped Notre Dame reach the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship in 2006 and 2007.

April 25, 2013

From DartmouthSports.com

HANOVER, N.H. -- Dartmouth College Athletics Director Harry Sheehy announced today that Chad Riley has been named as the 10th head coach of the Big Green men's soccer program. Riley, who has been on staff as the top assistant for over a year, replaces Jeff Cook who left the position after 12 successful years to pursue a coaching opportunity with the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer (MLS).

"Chad is a skilled and passionate teacher of the game who demands excellence from himself and those around him," said Sheehy. "He understands well the role of athletics in a rigorous academic setting like Dartmouth. I am thrilled to have him lead the wonderful tradition of Dartmouth men's soccer as we head into our centennial season."

This past fall, Riley helped guide Dartmouth to a 9-7 record and a second-place finish in the Ivy League standings with a 5-2 mark in his first season in Hanover. He mentored five Big Green players who received All-Ivy honors, including two first-team selections, one of which also earned all-region accolades from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).

Before arriving at Dartmouth, Riley served as an assistant coach for six years at his alma mater, the University of Notre Dame, under former Dartmouth head coach Bobby Clark. During his stint in South Bend, the Fighting Irish posted a record of 71-37-21 overall and a 41-13-8 mark in the Big East. Five times Notre Dame qualified for the NCAA Tournament in those six seasons, reaching the Elite Eight in both 2006 and '07, and it won Big East regular-season titles in 2007 and '08 for the school's first back-to-back conference crowns.

Riley coached 31 All-Big East selections, four All-Americans and three Academic All-Americans at Notre Dame, plus worked with the 2006 MAC Hermann Trophy winner, Joseph Lapira, as the NCAA's top collegiate soccer player. A total of 16 players were drafted into the MLS during his six years with the Fighting Irish.

In 2005, Riley was on the staff at St. John's University, helping the Red Storm finish the season with an 11-6-5 record and advance to the third round of the NCAA Tournament. His first college coaching position came in 2004 at Oberlin College, which finished the season 9-8-3 and posted the highest team grade point average of any of the 73 schools honored by the NSCAA with its Team Academic Award.

In every season of his coaching career, Riley's teams have logged a winning record.

"I am humbled and honored to have been chosen by Harry Sheehy and [Senior Associate Athletics Director] Drew Galbraith to lead this excellent program," Riley said. "Dartmouth soccer has a rich tradition of success and I look forward to adding to its great history.

"I would also like to take this time to thank my coaching mentors that have helped me along the way," he continued, "especially the most recent, Jeff Cook and Bobby Clark. I have been tremendously fortunate in my career to work for many great head coaches and along side many excellent assistant coaches."

A 2004 graduate of Notre Dame with a degree in theology, Riley was named to the All-Big East Rookie Team in 2000 while leading the team in scoring before going on to garnering All-Big East third-team honors twice and second-team honors as a senior. For his career, he recorded 52 points on 10 goals and 32 assists, the second-most assists all-time at Notre Dame. Riley started 75 games and was a key figure on the 2003 squad that won the Big East Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Round of 16. In addition, the native of Houston, Texas, was twice named to the Big East Academic All-Star Team.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING

Jeff Cook, Head Coach, Dartmouth College 2001-2012
"I am delighted that Chad Riley has been appointed as the men's soccer coach at Dartmouth, and feel he is uniquely qualified for this opportunity. He has deservedly built a reputation as one of the most talented, up-and-coming college soccer coaches in the country. Working with Chad over the past year has confirmed what I already knew about him: he is highly professional, has a great knowledge of the game and a true passion for coaching and teaching. Chad has quickly developed a strong bond with Dartmouth; I am confident that the Dartmouth men's soccer program will thrive under his leadership."

Bobby Clark, Current Head Coach, Notre Dame; Dartmouth Head Coach from 1985-1993
"I wish Chad the very best of luck at Dartmouth. Dartmouth is a special program for me as it is where I began my collegiate coaching career. I am thrilled that someone who played and coached for me will be in charge. I am confident that Chad will be very much his own man. He has an excellent soccer brain and will have his own ideas but, from a slightly selfish point of view, I hope that perhaps some of my philosophies, however dated, might still guide the Big Green on to greater glory. I wish both he and Big Green Soccer continued success."

Brian Wiese, Current Head Coach, Georgetown; Dartmouth Class of 1995
"Chad Riley is an exciting hire for Dartmouth soccer. Coaching him as a player and working with him as a colleague in the coaching ranks, has shown him to be a person with tremendous integrity, work ethic and a great soccer IQ. Those who bleed Dartmouth Green will be proud to have Chad as their coach."

Dillon Powers, Notre Dame Class of 2013, 2012 NSCAA First Team All-America and Current Member of Colorado Rapids (MLS)
"I am genuinely thrilled for Chad. As a player he made me better and inspired me to be my best. I have always thought I would be a coach after playing so I constantly evaluate my coaches and pick up on everything they do that makes them special. I always assumed that one day Chad would be in a head coaching position somewhere and I would often think to myself, `Now that is a staff that I want to be a part of; that is a team I do not want to face.' I have seen the `day in and day out' with him at Notre Dame, and there is no one more passionate and dedicated to his work which is why I know his program will be successful -- successful in the win column and, more importantly, successful in developing and mining the best in the players he has brought to his program. He brought out the best in me and challenged me to a tremendous degree, and I can say with full confidence that he will do the same for others."